Israeli Think Tank Says to Preserve ISIS

Prof. Efraim Inbar is a member of a think-tank in Israeli called Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He recently published a work for them where he defends the existence of ISIS, and claims that the destruction of them is would be a negative for Israel. This flies in the face of the narrative that we’ve been fed that the Islamic State is an enemy of Israel’s existence in Palestine. It would appear that the group actually helps their cause. It does, however, say that the U.S. should put forward efforts to weaken them.

In particular, the paper claims that ISIS is very useful in combating the influence of Iran in the region. The priority of Israel is to undercut a Muslim country in the region that is growing with influence due to its cooperation with other states attempting to develop economic independence. Iran is by no means an ideal state in the eyes of liberal Western democracy, but they are a positive force for oppressed people in the region.

Specifically, they say:

“The West should seek the further weakening of Islamic State, but not its destruction. A weak but functioning IS can undermine the appeal of the caliphate among radical Muslims; keep bad actors focused on one another rather than on Western targets; and hamper Iran’s quest for regional hegemony.”

In another portion, it declares that ISIS is carrying out their interests by trying to topple the Syrian government.

“The continuing existence of IS serves a strategic purpose. Why help the brutal Assad regime win the Syrian civil war? Many radical Islamists in the opposition forces, i.e., Al Nusra and its offshoots, might find other arenas in which to operate closer to Paris and Berlin. Is it in the West’s interests to strengthen the Russian grip on Syria and bolster its influence in the Middle East? Is enhancing Iranian control of Iraq congruent with American objectives in that country? Only the strategic folly that currently prevails in Washington can consider it a positive to enhance the power of the Moscow-Tehran-Damascus axis by cooperating with Russia against IS.”

This is all a part of a larger manoeuvre to undermine anti-U.S.-Israel power in the region. The alliance of Moscow-Tehran-Damascus is serving as an anti-imperialist force against the constant murder and oppression being carried out by the U.S. and its client states, including Israel. Countries in the region want to escape the economic and military domination they face from U.S. military bases in the region. An alliance with these powers can create a collective strength that continuously grows, increasingly able to confront U.S. hegemonic power in the region.

The desire to preserve ISIS shows that Israel really doesn’t fear the group at all. on the contrary, they see them as tentative allies who can help them carry out imperialist aims. Surely people have noticed that ISIS and other radical Islamic groups don’t attack Israel for some reason. Just the fact that radical Islam is not attacking a Zionist state should be suspicious enough. When we combine this with the fact that Israel has aided ISIS in the past, 123 and that Israel has been purchasing ISIS produced oil, 1 there should be no doubt that Israel is working with ISIS to attack governments which oppose U.S. and Israeli influence in the region.

Anti-imperialist groups today have been too perverted by identity politics to acknowledge this need for anti-imperialist cooperation. Instead, they express concern over first world-style oppressions, using them as justifications to support hostilities against the countries that they benefit from the oppression of.

All efforts should be made to support the anti-imperialist struggles of Iran and Syria in this time of need against U.S.-Israeli aggression. It was both Lenin and Mao who told us that imperialism is the primary contradiction. The oppressed people of the world should be defended, and their right to self-determination (even if it’s not communist) should be preserved. No positive can come from aiding the murderous military and economic expansion of the U.S. Empire.